Rejoinder To Colonel Sagir Musa’s Impassioned Defense Of The Nigerian Military by Dr. Peregrino Brimah

I would like to ask if you have listened to the audio tape released by SaharaReporters implicating Nigerian military officers in the rigging of the August 2014 Ekiti state elections. Is this behavior with several Army officers implicated, defensible by you? Is such conduct which we were only lucky to detect thanks to a Whistle blower, PATRIOTIC army officer, apolitical in your books? After listening to it, can you still stand by the conduct of your institution?

by Dr. Peregrino BrimahFeb 06, 2015

Jumping straight to the middle of respected military colonel Sagir Musa’s enamored article in SaharaReporters today, captioned “Politicization Of Military And Security In Nigeria,” it is of primary importance to dispute an assertion made therein; I quote: “anonymous media campaigns against the operations in the North East.” SaharaReporters, the medium that has communicated some of the exposés referenced, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle [PointBlankNews – U.S Wants Ihejirika’s Sudden ‘Billions’ Probed 22/09/2014] as well as my humble organization, Every Nigerian Do Something, ENDS and other bodies and persons implicated are not in any sense of the term, “anonymous,” and I doubt “against Nigeria’s success in defeating Boko Haram in the northeast,” as you casually and rather hurtfully insinuated.

And that there is the crux of the matter and most disturbing concern that your vital essay failed to address – why is our military failing in the northeast? We would have hoped that apart from the necessary defensive stance you took, you did some justice to the pressing concerns that have no doubt prompted doubt and levels of distrust in the Nigerian military, precipitating in the articles and opinions in the social and broadcast media you pinpointed.

The lack of explanations, information and assurance from the Nigerian military through the bloody 5 years is in itself a form of terrorism to the masses of Nigeria who continue to die at the hands of a seemingly invincible intractable enemy. Why the silence? Re we Nigerians too retarded to know your comprehensive strategy against terror?

We were dismayed, to put it lightly to find that the only comprehensive discussion by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki on the state of terror of the nation and the proposed counter strategy was given not to Nigerians but to the Brits in his recently held Chatham house engagement. Are you comfortable with this? Do you feel Nigerians do not need to be addressed on the issues of national security by officers of the Nigerian army, our Minister of defense and National Security Adviser; but need to wait to hear this information only when it is delivered in our colonialist conqueror nations?

We look forward to your response on the silence by the military and also on the failure of the current administration and its top military officials to inform sufficiently on our actual security status and empathize with victims of terror, like the Baga massacre victims of January 2015. We would like your response as to which behavior is in effect encouraging of our defeat in the hands of terror in the northeast, yours or ours. Is it possible to defeat terror while disregarding and alienating the people? Do you support our engagements with foreigners and foreign nations and mercenaries over our utilizing our own civilian and military committed, fighting patriots?

It was nice to see you referred to the recent onset of court martials of derelict officers. To be precise, this proper military address was never seriously embarked on till after April of 2014.

I believe you have read several of our write-ups through the years before where we queried the lack of accountability and culpability for military failures leading to the direct transfer of Nigeria’s arsenal stock to Boko Haram terrorists; and we serially demanded the court martialing of guilty officers. Can you defend the Army for failing to initiate such processes thoroughly and promptly throughout the years from May 2011 to April 2014? Throughout this period, you did – like us – hear of several events where the Army abandoned their posts of failed to act on clear actionable intelligence. Does this failure not indict the Chiefs of the army in the acts leading to and supportive of terror by the pardoned inferior officers? We appreciate your response to this very important question.

Can you kindly explain and defend why you, a much respected colonel and your ultra-efficient Joint Task Force were pulled out of Borno suddenly in August of 2012, when you had killed Abubakar Shekau I, right when victory was at hand and Boko Haram had been pushed into Sambisa forest where the group could be terminated once and for all?

Can you similarly explain why right after the new begged-for #VictoryForNigeria campaign was embarked upon in mid 2014 and Abubakar Shekau II was killed, why again the military Chief of Defense announced a sudden phony cease fire that again allowed Boko Haram regroup and perpetrate more murderous atrocities while capturing more Nigerian terrain?

Is there not an obvious pattern here? Is it defensible? Who was held culpable for these “blunders” that led to the death and maiming of brave soldiers and civilians in the hundreds? Do you defend these careless, deadly and treacherous “blunders” or do you see reason why and support (albeit silently) the officers who dare to expose these acts that could be investigated for treason.

Keeping it short, I would like to ask if you have listened to the audio tape released by SaharaReporters implicating Nigerian military officers in the rigging of the August 2014 Ekiti state elections. Is this behavior with several Army officers implicated, defensible by you? Is such conduct which we were only lucky to detect thanks to a Whistle blower, PATRIOTIC army officer, apolitical in your books? After listening to it, can you still stand by the conduct of your institution? Is it perhaps possible for other officers to likewise report on failures leading to the death of hundreds of brave officers and to the disgrace of the Nigerian Army, an erstwhile recognized pristine institution that cannot do what the Cameroonian and Chadian Armies seem to easily do today? Can the Army Chiefs under whose watch these unhindered acts of electoral subversion by military officers take place be exonerated of political attenuation? After all, prior to the tape evidence, we all saw the massive military intimidation campaign staged in Ekiti. Can you claim your superiors did not notice and had no hand in it?

We would very importantly appreciate in your hoped-for response an explanation to Nigerian victims of terror, why the Nigerian military has failed if not due to sabotage, politicization of the military and subversion of funds. Why?

So much blood has been “shared” in the northeast. Do you blame Nigerians who are desperately hoping for Change? Don’t let “him” bring you down Soldier!

We thank you for your time and honestly, we miss you as an astute spokesman who allayed our fears and raised our hopes once-upon-a-time.

SaharaReporters.com is an outstanding, groundbreaking news website that encourages citizen journalists to report ongoing corruption and government malfeasance in Africa. Using photos, text, and video dynamically, the site informs and prompts concerned African citizens and activists globally to act, denouncing officially-sanctioned corruption, the material impoverishment of its citizenry, defilement of the environment, and the callous disregard of the democratic principles enshrined in the constitution.